Geode Capital Management LLC Has $508.38 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $508,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 116,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,454,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $1,562,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $302.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $297.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.